This invention relates to a loading apparatus for a large-caliber weapon, including an ammunition magazine situated behind the weapon and a device for loading the weapon.
Loading apparatus of the above-outlined type are disclosed, for example, in German Offenlegungsschriften (applications published without examination) 25 01 426 and 32 38 893 as well as German Patent No. 31 32 631. In the known loading apparatus described therein the ammunition magazines are designed as circulating magazines and require complex devices for supporting and guiding the ammunition. Such devices occupy a relatively large space and are of substantial weight. Further, circulating magazines may be charged, as a rule, only in two or four tiers so that the space available for the magazine is often not optimally utilized.